Many vehicles include a vehicle keypad provided on a vehicle door. This keypad can accept a code input that will unlock the vehicle if the proper code is input. With a four digit code, for example, there are 625 possibilities for unlocking the door if five discrete buttons are employed. If a party interested in stealing a vehicle were to view a partial code, or evidence of what buttons had been pressed, this number of attempts needed to infiltrate the vehicle could be greatly diminished. If working at night (in a driveway for example) a persistent thief could simply brute force try combinations until a vehicle was unlocked. If only a few attempts were needed (because a partial code was known or could be guessed), a vehicle could be entered even in broad daylight.
One example of a solution to defeating this issue includes a self-powered electronic combination lock that rotates an outer dial to cause generators to generate energy for storage in a capacitor bank. A user then rotates an inner dial to cause a microcontroller to sequentially display a combination of numbers, and presses the inner dial to select a displayed number. The microcontroller determines direction and extent of motion of the inner dial by receiving signals derived from Wiegand sensors placed in proximity to a magnetized disc which rotates integrally with the inner dial, and controls the display of numerals on an LCD display accordingly. When the microcontroller determines that a correct combination has been entered, it activates a motor to move a motor cam to act directly on a locking lever so that the locking lever can engage a drive cam integrally linked with the inner dial, to allow the inner dial to withdraw the lock's bolt. Software features, as well as power level monitoring features, cause the locking lever to be moved away from the drive cam to prevent the bolt from being withdrawn if it has not already been withdrawn within a given time window. Integral bearing/retaining members make the lock dials tamper-evident. After a given number of successive incorrect combination entries, an “override” combination, which is preferably a longer, mathematical variation of normal combinations, is necessary to open the lock.
Another example includes a method for controlling access to a storage unit owned by an owner, wherein a renter has access to the storage unit unless the owner receives the legal right to deny the renter access to the storage unit and decides to do so. In this method, the storage unit is secured by a lock that is, at least in part, controlled by the renter. A remotely controllable lockout assembly, however, is capable of over locking the storage unit so that the renter can no longer gain entry when the lockout assembly is activated. The method includes remotely controlling the lockout assembly to deny the renter access to the unit when the owner receives the legal right to deny the renter access to the storage unit and decides to do so.